Michael Gove told businesses yesterday to expect “a significant change”
A number of industry leaders have expressed deep concerns over the inevitable impact of border checks on cross-border trade and supply chains as well as their frustration over the recent direction of Britain’s trade negotiations with the EU. Boris Johnson’s recent “Australia” trade deal remark was, in effect, a barely coded and flippant reference to no-deal, given the fact there is no such thing as an Australia trade deal.
The informed analysis suggests that Johnson’s Brexiteer government are fully aware of the “significant” and “inevitable” economic damage that a no-deal scenario would bring but anything short of full independence would not be seen as “taking back control” or “reclaiming British sovereignty” and hard Brexiteers like Johnson and Gove believe that would be politically devastating for the Conservative Party.
Giving Scottish Independence a boost and rising political tensions in Ireland are of no consequence either, even if it means betraying old allies, like the DUP. A recent surge of support for Sinn Fein during the Irish election has renewed calls for constitutional change with Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald arguing for an urgent Irish “unity referendum” but Tory ministers don’t care to even offer comment, let alone express concern. In fact, it seems as if nothing is too high a price to pay in their efforts to preserve the political integrity of the Conservative party.
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